Ice Queen: Handpun

After days of handcarding fluffy airy rolags, I am ready to spin! I began spinning short forward draw and have now moved to attenuated long draw. It's much faster and makes for a more hairy furry yarn, which is what I am going for in the resultant finished handknit.
I plan to give the finished item a good brush with a horse hair brush to bring up the nap, but right now I am concentrating on keeping an even thin grist. I am spinning with the yarn laced through the hooks and on the 15 ratio so that the single is a little bit thicker than laceweight.

Ice Queen: Mohair, Merino, Alpaca, Tussah Silk

I blended 50% mohair for wisp fuzzfactor, 20% merino for body and spring, 20% alpaca for warmth, 10% tussah silk for sheen and strength.

Handcarded all the fibers evenly. This took about 4 days.

Ah, finished fluffy rolags, ready to spin.

Harry Potter Knit Crochet House Cup: July 09

This month’s class suggestions:
Very flexible assignments this month.

O.W.L.s - Join us for an OWL-O-RAMA weekend. See how much progress you can make and keep your housemates posted so we can cheer you on!

Ravenclaw O.W.L. Honor Roll

Astronomy - Twinkling Stars or The Golden Fleece
For TS something sparkly to wear/bring to the movie. Bonus points for incorporating a constellation and telling its story.
For GF anything gold and share the story of how you captured the golden fleece.

Charms - Geminio, the duplicating charm
Make 2 of anything! (or 2 pairs for socks and mittens)
From the wording premier might be a plus.
House colors do not count for bonus points.

DADA - The Half-Blood Prince
Anything inspired by a scene from book 6.
Bonus points for premiere wear/house colors, Snape connections, using a scene the prof. doesn’t remember or making her laugh.
House colors must be on obvious house items like scarves or socks or be expressly pointed out. Plain blue will not cut it.

Herbology - Wand Trees
Anything related to your personal wand/the tree it comes from. Here is a useful quiz. This one is good too.
Bonus points for sharing details about your wand (wood, length, core, flexibility) and why it is right for you.

Muggle Studies - Dress for Success
Any item of Muggle apparel.
Bonus points for a picture of the item worn on location in the muggle world.

Potions - Felix Felicis
A project no larger than your fist that is golden, metallic or sparkly. Golden snitch? Galleon?
Quidditch players must make something you can see through instead.

This is my Snitch for Potions class:


A golden handbag for Astronomy class:






Two pair of socks for Charms class:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince @ the Zeigfield

Excellent place to see a movie!
HBP was a bit odd in that they added a scene at The Burrow that never happened in the book while leaving out entire important segments, like everything to do with the Gaunts. The movie was also a bit too much on the cheery side, um Voldemort is back, heeelooo? Still it was fun, but I sold my next day's tickets to friend's having an anniversary that week. No need to see this movie again anytime soon.

Aeolian Shawl Knit

Completed knitting the Aeolian Shawl today! It took a month to knit and four days to spin. Now I just have to block and it will be finito!

Beekeeping July 2009

Holly Dragonheart Wand

12", Holly Wand, Dragon Heartstring Core
You scored 37 wisdom, 39 bravery, 16 emotional, and 22 public service!

Holly is a powerful protective wood that good for use against evil, but it also represents dreams and fertility. Your dragon's heartstring core makes your wand very effective in hexes.

Ravenclaw Witchdoctor Wristlettes

One of the assignments for Quidditch in the Ravelry Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup is the creation of wristlettes.

I spun up a wild fiber skein and incorporated it in crocheted Witchdoctor Ravenclaw Wristies.

Tour de Fleece 09 Day 3

Aeolian Shawl

I spun for the shawlette and am knitting the last edge section. Good thing too because I am running out of beads!
The fiber is an alpaca silk blend in bottle green purchased from Little Barn at Rhinebeck 2007.

I spun the first half less uniformly, was in a rush to start! Definitely take your time spinning, the infinitesimally tiny changes in diameter make a massive difference between getting the bead on or not. I would have been done knitting long ago but for spending all that extra time wrestling on the beads.

The pattern is straightforward until you get to the edging. Be sure to count the 5 repeats on each side of the middle section.

Ravenclaw Pom

Get Ready for HP HBP!Soar Ravenclaw!!

Le Tour de Fleece 2009

It's that time again, oui, oui- Le Tour de Fleece 2009


This year, Le Tour de France begins in Monaco.
Running from Saturday July 4th to Sunday July 26th 2009, the 96th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3500.
And again, will be the concomittant Spinning competition, Le Tour de Fleece!

Eligibility: Any spinner who would like to take on a spinning challenge during the 2009 Tour de France bicycle race.

Concept: You will set yourself a personal spinning challenge. You will begin spinning on the first stage of the Tour (July 4th), and finish on or before the last stage (July 26th). You, of course, may spin on those days designated rest days for the riders.

Rules:
1. The idea is to set yourself a challenge. It doesn't matter what the challenge is -- it could be spinning fine for the first time, or producing an artsy fartsy yarn as an exercise, it could be spinning enough for a specific project. If you've always wanted to spin a little every day (say, a spinning meditation practice), but never seem to find time for it, perhaps that could be the challenge -- spinning every morning of the tour. What matters is you set out the challenge, and meet it during the specified time.

2. There will be no spinning before the start of the first stage.

3. You must finish spinning before the last stage ends.

4. You may sample and do other research as needed beforehand if it helps you decide on your challenge, or will help provide you the tools and information you need to meet the challenge.


The Maillot Jaune (Yellow Jersey)
You meet your challenge = Malliot Jaune, or you don't.
Finishers will get a button for their blog, which will be essentially the same as last year's version. Of course, there is the immense pride in undertaking the Tour and riding -- er -- spinning to completion.

Entering the Tour de Fleece 2009
To enter the Tour de Fleece 2009 spinning challenge, please leave a comment here stating your name (nicknames are acceptable) and the URL for your blog or the webpage where you'll be reporting your spinning progress during the running of this year's Tour de France bicycle race. You can also submit your entry by e-mail via the link in the sidebar -- make sure you put "Tour de Fleece" in the subject line.

Entries will be posted on the TdF blog -- check the list for your entry, allowing a couple of days from the time you submit it for the list to update.
Although the aim is to start on July 4th, as in past years, if you find TdF late, you can still feel free to hop aboard -- just set a challenge that will be appropriate to the time left before the end of the Tour.